With her first EP 'Watch The Stars' released last year, Adelaide singer-songwriter Matiah has recently released her latest single, 'We Are Falling', and its accompanying music video.
In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in female representation in the Australian music scene. Matiah is one of those artists demanding recognition. She has garnered attention from the likes of Triple J Unearthed and Fresh 92.7, Adelaide’s community radio station.
Matiah now returns with 'We Are Falling', which has been in the works for a year. “It's completely different,” Matiah says. “I knew it was going to be something special from the start. I like that is has the electronic parts, but it still has the strings and the piano.”
'We Are Falling’ maintains Matiah’s signature haunting melodies, but introduces an electronic element that was not present in previous tracks. It is this element that takes the song to the next level. “It makes it standout more than it would if it was just piano based,” Matiah says.
Matiah explains that working at Fresh 92.7 has actually fed and inspired her own music.
“Before I worked here, I wasn't even interested in electronic music. I was always into rock and alternative music. I never really understood [electronic music], but being around here and listening to it, you get it. I have such a respect for it now. I mean, I'm incorporating it into my own music. It's crazy!”
When asked what inspired ‘We Are Falling’, Matiah answers societal pressures. “I couldn’t relate to anyone else around me... Everyone is growing up and getting married and having kids and buying houses.”
And society is saying “make a choice”. “It’s about pursuing your dreams,” Matiah adds, “even when it’s hard and it feels like no one is on your side. We’re all stars; we can all follow our dreams and do more than what is expected.”
Perhaps because of this, the lyrics are particularly relatable for the masses. “It's very easy to feel alone and to feel like you're not enough and you're broken,” Matiah says.
This loneliness transcends into the music video. Filmed predominantly in a forest and some forgotten railway tracks outside Adelaide, the haunted atmosphere reinforces the track’s melodies. “Even as a kid I was always that little bit darker – not quite as normal as the other kids around me,” Matiah says.
This is quite understandable considering Matiah’s musical tastes lean toward more heavier and darker artists. Her favourite bands include but are not limited to Evanescence, Nirvana, and Slipknot. On the topic of Evanescence, Matiah gushes.
“I’ve loved them since I was 12 years old!” Her musical and personal hero is Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee: “[She’s] my person! She’s the reason I am who I am!”
Their music served an inspiration for her own. “If those darker bands have taught me anything, it’s that it is okay to put those feelings into your songs [and that] the wonderful thing about song writing is that you can make something good out of these bad experiences.”
It is this darkness that makes such a substantial contrast with Matiah’s light, almost-but-not-quite delicate vocals.
